Common Sense by Yoritomo-Tashi

Its easy to link to paragraphs in the Full Text ArchiveIf this page contains some material that you want to link to but you don't want your visitors to have to scroll down the whole page just hover your mouse over the relevent paragraph and click the bookmark icon that appears to the left of it. The address of that paragraph will appear in the address bar of your browser. For further details about how you can link to the Full Text Archive please refer to our linking page.

As our philosopher explains, the influence of common sense is above allappreciation of daily events. "We have," he continues, "very rarely inlife the opportunity of making grave decisions, but we are called upondaily to resolve unimportant problems, and we can only do it in ajudicious way, if we are allowed to devote ourselves to certain kinds ofinvestigation.

"This is what may be called to judge with discrimination, otherwise, withcommon sense.

"Without this faculty, it is in vain that our memory amasses thematerials, which must serve us in the comparative examination of facts.

"And this examination can only be spoiled by decrepitude, if common sensedid not succeed in dictating its conclusions to us.

"Thanks to this faculty, we possess this accuracy of mind which permitsus to discern truth from falsehood.

"It is this power which aids us in distinguishing what we should consideras a duty, as a right, or as a thing conforming to equity, established bythe laws of intelligence.

"Without common sense we should be like an inexperienced gardener, who,for want of knowledge, would allow the tares to grow and would neglectthe plants whose function is to nourish man.

"In order to conform to the habit of judging with common sense, one oughtfirst to lay down the following principle:

"No fact can exist, unless there is a sufficient motive to determineits nature.

"It is when operating on the elements furnished us by common sense thatwe are able to discern the quality of the object of our attention.

"One day, a sage, whom people gladly consulted, was asked by what meanshe had learned to know so well the exact proportion of things, so that henever failed to attribute to them their real value.

"'Why' they added, 'can you foresee so exactly the evil and direct us tothat which is right and just?'

"And the superstitious people added:

"'Are you not in communication with the spirits, which float in space,which come from the other world?

"Would you not be counseled by voices which we have not the power tohear, and do you not see things which are visible to you alone?'

"'You are right,' replied the saintly man, smiling:

"'I have indeed the power to hear and to see that which you do notperceive; but sorcery has no relation to the power which isattributed to me.

"If you wish, you will be able to possess it in your turn, for my meansare not a secret.

"'I keep my eyes and ears open.'

"And as every one burst out laughing, believing it a joke, the sagebegan again:

"'But this is not all; after having seen and heard, I call to my aid allthe qualities which constitute common sense and, thanks to this faculty,I draw my conclusions from my experience, from which enthusiasm, fancy,as well as personal interest are totally excluded.

"'This done, and my judgment being formulated in my thought, I adapt itto the circumstances, and especially to the material situation and to thementality of those who consult me.'

"From these counsels," thinks the Shogun, "we must draw a preciouslesson.

"It is true that an exigency, physical or moral, can determine, indifferent individuals, a very different resolution.

"According to the manner of life adopted, or the direction given to one'sduties, different resolutions can be made without lacking common sense.It is indisputable that what represents social obligations does notdemand the same conduct from the peasant as from the prince.

"We should outrage common sense in presenting a workman with a gorgeousrobe suitable for great ceremonies, in which to do his work, but reasonwould be equally outraged if one put on a shabby costume to go to thepalace of the Mikado."

The nature of resolutions inspired by common sense varies according toenvironment, the time, and the state of mind in which one is.

These conditions make of this quality a virtue really worth acquiring,for it is more difficult to conquer than many others and its effects areof infinite variety.

But as always, Yoritomo, after having signaled the danger, and indicatedthe remedy, gives us the manner of its application.

That which follows is marked by that simplicity of conception andfacility of execution which render the doctrine of the Nippon philosopherabsolutely efficacious.

Instead of losing himself by digressing from his subject and by placinghimself on the summits of psychology, he remains with us, puts himself onthe level of the most humble among us, and says to us all:

"The best way to use common sense in daily life consists in declaringone's honest intentions.

"What should I do if I were in the place of the person with whom I amdiscussing?

"I found myself one day on the slope of a hill named Yung-Tshi, and Iremarked that the majority of the trees were stript of their foliage.

"The season seeming to me not sufficiently advanced for this condition ofvegetation, I exprest my astonishment to a passer-by, who replied to me:

"'Alas! This occurs every year at the same time, and it is not well tocultivate trees on the height of Yung-Tshi, for the sun, being too hot,dries them up before the time when the foliage ought to fall.'

"A few days afterward my steps lead me on the opposite slope of thesame hill.

"There the trees were covered with foliage, still green but uncommon, andtheir appearance indicated an unhealthy condition of growth.

"'Alas!' said a man who was working in the hedges to me, 'it is not wellto cultivate trees on the height of Tung-Tshi, for the sun never shinesthere, and they can only acquire the vigor they would possess if theywere planted in another country.'

"And, altho recognizing the truth of these two opinions, socontradictory, I could not help thinking that they were the reproductionof those which men, deprived of common sense, express every day.

"The same hill produced a vegetation, affected in different ways, byreason of different causes; and the people, instead of taking intoconsideration how carelessly they had chosen the location of theirplantation, preferred to attribute the defect to the site itself, ratherthan to their lack of precaution.

"Both of them were suffering from a hurtful exaggeration, but each oneexplained it in a way arbitrarily exclusive.

"He of the north made out that the sun never shone on the summit ofYung-Tshi, and the inhabitant of the south affirmed that thehealth-giving shade was unknown there."

This is why it is indispensable to the successful resolution of thethousand and one problems of daily life, both those whose sole importanceis derived from their multiplicity and those whose seriousness justlydemands our attention, to employ the very simple method which prescribesthat we place ourselves mentally in the position and circumstances of theperson with whom we are discussing.

If each one of the inhabitants of Yung-Tshi had followed this precept,instead of declaring that the hill never received the sun or that shadenever fell upon it, they would each one have thought for himself.

"At what conclusions should I arrive, if I had planted my trees on theopposite side?"

From the reasoning which would have ensued, the following truth wouldmost certainly have been revealed.

"If I were in the other man's place, I should certainly think as hedoes."

This premise once laid down, the conclusion would be reached; all themore exact, because, without abandoning their arguments, each one wouldpresent those which it is easy to turn against an adversary.

Before solving a problem, he who desires to avoid making a mistake mustnever fail to ask himself this question:

What should I do if my interests were those of the opposite party?

Or, yet again:

What should I reply if my adversaries used the same language to me as Ipurpose using when addressing them?

This method is valuable in that it raises unexpected objections, whichthe mind would not consider if one had simply studied the question fromone's own point of view.

It is a self-evident fact that, according to the state of mind in whichwe are, things assume different proportions in the rendering ofjudgment on them.

We must not argue as children do, who, not having the sense ofcalculating distances, ask how the man standing near to them will be ableto enter his house, which they see far away, and which seems to them ofmicroscopic dimensions.

One departs from common sense when one attributes to insignificant thingsa fundamental value.

We neglect to consider it in a most serious way when we adopt principlescontrary to the general consensus of opinion accredited in theenvironment in which we are living.

"A high dignitary of the court," says Yoritomo, "would be lacking incommon sense if he wished to conduct himself as a peasant and, on theother hand, a peasant would give a proof of great folly were he toattempt the remodeling of his life on the principles adopted bycourtiers.

"He who, passing his life in camps, wished to think and to act like thephilosopher, whose books are his principal society, would cause people todoubt his wisdom; and the thinker who should adopt publicly the methodsof a swashbuckler would only inspire contempt."

In ordinary life, one ought to consider this faculty of common sense asthe ruling principle of conduct.

One can be lacking in thought, in audacity, in brilliant qualities, ifonly one possesses common sense.

It takes the place of intelligence in many people, whose minds,unaccustomed to subtle argument, only lend themselves to very simplereasoning.

A versatile mentality rarely belongs to such minds, because it is nottheir forte to unfold hidden truths.

It walks in the light and keeps in the very middle of the road, far fromthe ambushes which may be concealed by the hedges of the cross-roads.

Many people gifted with common sense but deprived of ordinaryintelligence have amassed a fortune, but never, no matter how clever hemay be, has a man known success, if he has not strictly observed the lawsof common sense.

It is not only in debates that the presence of this virtue should makeitself felt, but every act of our life should be impregnated with it.

There are no circumstances, no matter how insignificant they may appear,where the intervention of common sense would be undesirable.

It is only common sense which will indicate the course of conduct to bepursued, so as not to hurt the feelings or offend the prejudices ofother people.

There are great savants, whose science, freed from all puerile beliefs,rises above current superstition.

They would consider it a great lack of common sense if they expoundedtheir theories before the humble-minded, whose blind faith would beinjured thereby.

Of two things one is certain: either they would refuse to believe suchtheories and this display of learning would be fruitless, or theirhabitual credulity would be troubled and they would lose theirtranquility without acquiring a conviction sufficiently strong to givethem perfect peace of mind.

Even in things which concern health, common sense is applicable todaily life.

It is common sense which will preserve us from excesses, by establishingthe equilibrium of the annoyances which result from them, with referenceto the doubtful pleasure which they procure.

Thanks to common sense, we shall avoid the weariness of late nights andthe danger of giving oneself up to the delights of dissipation.

"It is common sense," says the philosopher, "which forces us at a banquetto raise our eyes to the hour-glass to find out how late it is.

"It is under the inspiration of this great quality of mind that we shallavoid putting to our lips the cup already emptied many times.

"Common sense will reflect upon the mirror of our imagination the specterof the day after the orgy; it will evoke the monster of the headachewhich works upon the suffering cranium with its claws of steel; and, atsome future day, it will show us precocious decrepitude as well as allbodily ills which precede the final decay of those who yield to theirpassions. It will also impose upon us the performance of duty under theform which it has adopted for each individual.

"Common sense represents for some the care of public affairs; for othersthose of the family; for us all the great desire to leave intact to ourdescendants the name which we have received from our fathers.

"For some of those still very young, it is like a lover long desired!

"For sages and warriors, it blows the trumpet of glory.

"Finally, common sense is the chosen purpose of every one, courted,demanded, desired or accepted, but it exists, and under the penalty ofmost serious inconveniences it does not permit us to forget itsexistence."

Coming down from the heights where he allows himself to be transported attimes for a brief moment, Yoritomo tells us the part played by commonsense with reference to health.

"If we followed its advice, we should avoid the thousand and one littleannoyances of illnesses caused by imprudence.

"The choice of clothing would be regulated according to the existingtemperature.

"One would avoid the passing at once from extreme heat to extreme cold.

"One would never proffer this stupid reflection: Bah! I shall take careof myself, which impudent people declare when exposing themselvescarelessly to take cold.

"We should understand that disease is a cause of unparalleled disorderand discord.

"In addition to the thought of possible sufferings, that of grief forthose whom we love, joined to the apprehension of a cessation of socialfunctions, on whose achievement depends our fortune, would suffice toeliminate all idea of imprudence, if we had the habit of allowing commonsense to participate in all our actions of daily life.

"To those who walk under its guidance; it manifests itself withoutceasing; it dominates all actions without their being compelled toseparate themselves from it.

"It is unconsciously that they appeal to common sense and they have noneed of making an effort to follow its laws.

"Common sense is the intelligence of instinct."

LESSON VII

POWER OF DEDUCTION

Before entering the path which relates directly to the intellectualefforts concerning the acquisition of common sense, the Shogun calls ourattention to the power of deduction.

"It is only," said he, "where we are sufficiently permeated with all theprinciples of judgment that we shall be able to think of acquiring thisquality, so necessary to the harmony of life.

"The most important of all the mental operations which ought to bepractised by him who desires common sense to reign supreme in all hisactions and decisions, is incontestably deduction.

"When the union of ideas, which judgment permits, is made with perceptionand exactness, there results always an analysis, which, if practisedfrequently, will end by becoming almost a mechanical act.

"It is, however, well to study the phases of this analysis, in order toorganize them methodically first.

"Later, when the mind shall be sufficiently drilled in this kind ofgymnastics, all their movements will be repeated in an almost unconsciousway, and deduction, that essential principle of common sense, will beself-imposed.

"In order that deductions may be a natural development, the elementrelating to those which should be the object of judgment should begrouped first.

"The association of statements is an excellent method for it introducesinto thought the existence of productive agents.

"We have already spoken of the grouping of thoughts, which is a moresynthetical form of that selection.

"Instead of allowing it to be enlarged by touching lightly on all thatwhich is connected with the subject, it is a question, on the contrary,of confining it to the facts relating to only one object.

"These facts should be drawn from the domain of the past; by comparison,they can be brought to the domain of the present in order to be able toassociate the former phenomena with those from which it is a question ofdrawing deductions.

"It is rarely that these latter depend on one decision alone, even whenthey are presented under the form of a single negation or affirmation.

"Deduction is always the result of many observations, formulated withgreat exactness, which common sense binds together.

"That which is called a line of action is always suggested by theanalysis of the events which were produced under circumstances analogousto those which exist now.

"From the result of these observations, the habit of thinking permits ofdrawing deductions and common sense concludes the analysis.

"The method of deduction rests upon this.

"One thing being equal to a previous one should produce the same effects.

"If we find ourselves faced by an incident that our memory can assimilatewith another incident of the same kind, we must deduce the followingchain of reasoning:

"First, the incident of long ago has entailed inevitable consequences.

"Secondly, the incident of to-day ought to produce the same effects,unless the circumstances which surround it are different.

"It is then a question of analyzing the circumstances and of weighing thecauses whose manifestation could determine a disparity in the results.

"We shall interest ourselves first in the surroundings for thus, as wehave said, habits of thought and feeling vary according to the epoch andthe environment.

"A comparison will be established between persons or things, in order tobe absolutely convinced of their degree of conformity.

"The state of mind in which we were when the previous events weremanifested will be considered, and we shall not fail to ascertainplainly the similarity or change of humor at the moment as related tothat of the past.

"It is also of importance to observe the state of health, for under theaffliction of sickness things assume very easily a hostile aspect.

"It would be wrong to attribute to events judged during an illness thesame value which is given to them at this present moment.

"When one is absolutely decided as to the relation of new perceptions andmental representations, one can calculate exactly the degree ofcomparison.

"The moment will then have arrived to synthesize all the observations andto draw from them the following deductions:

"First, like causes ought, all things being equal, to produce likeeffects.

"Secondly, the event which is in question will therefore have the sameconsequences as the previous one, since it is presented under the sameconditions.

"Or again:

"Being granted the principle that like causes produce like effects, as Ihave just affirmed, and that there exist certain incompatibilitiesbetween the contingencies of the past and those of to-day, one must allowthat these incompatibilities will produce different results.

"And, after this reasoning, the deductions will be established byconstituting a comparison in favor of either the present or past stateof things."

But the philosopher, who thinks of everything, has foreseen the casewhere false ideas have obscured the clearness of the deductions, and hesaid to us:

"The association of false ideas, if it does not proceed from thedifficulty of controlling things, is always in ungovernable opposition tothe veracity of the deduction.

"What would be thought of a man of eighty years who, coming back tohis country after a long absence, said, on seeing the family roof froma distance:

"'When I was twenty years old, in leaving here, it took me twentyminutes to reach the home of my parents, so I shall reach the thresholdin twenty minutes.'

"The facts would be exact in principle.

"The distance to be covered would be the same; but legs of eightyyears have not the same agility as those of very young people, and inpredicting that he will reach the end of his walk in the same numberof minutes as he did in the past, the old man would deceive himselfmost surely.

"If, on the contrary, on reaching the same place he perceived that a newroute had been made, and that instead of a roundabout way of approach, asin the past, the house was now in a straight line from the point where hewas looking at it, it would be possible to estimate approximately thenumber of minutes which he could gain on the time employed in the past,by calculating the delay imposed upon him by his age and his infirmities.

"Those to whom deduction is familiar, at times astonish thoughtlesspersons by the soundness of their judgment.

"A prince drove to his home in the country in a sumptuous equipage.

"He was preceded by a herald and borne in a palanquin by four servants,who were replaced by others at the first signs of fatigue, in order thatthe speed of the journey should never be slackened.

"As they were mounting, with great difficulty, a zigzag road which led upalong the side of a hill, one of these men cried out:

"'Stop,' said he, 'in the name of Buddha, stop!'

"The prince leaned out from the palanquin to ask the cause of thisexclamation:

"The great man shrugged his shoulders and turning toward his master ofceremonies, who was riding at his side, said:

"'See what that man wants.'

"But scarcely had the officer allowed his horse to take a few steps inthe direction of the man who had given warning when the palanquin, withthe prince and his bearers, rolled down a precipice, opened by thesinking in of the earth.

"They raised them all up very much hurt, and the first action of theprince, who was injured, was to have arrested the one who, according tohim, had evoked an evil fate.

"He was led, then and there, to the nearest village and put into a cell.

"The poor man protested.

"'I have only done what was natural,' said he. 'I am going to explain it,but I pray you let me see the prince; I shall not be able to justifymyself when he is ill with fever.'

"'What do you mean,' they replied, 'do you prophesy that the prince willhave a fever?'

"'He is going to have it.'

"'You see, you are a sorcerer,' said the jailer, 'you make predictions.'

"And then he shut him in prison, to go away and to relate hisconversation to them all.

"During this time, they called in a healer who stated that the wounds ofthe great nobleman were not mortal in themselves, but that the feverwhich had declared itself could become dangerous.

"He was cured after long months.

"During this time the poor man languished in his prison, from whence hewas only taken to appear before the judges.

"Accused of sorcery and of using black magic, he explained very simplythat he had foreseen the danger, because in raising his eyes he hadnoticed that the part of the ground over which the herald had passed wassinking, and that he had drawn the following conclusions:

"The earth seemed to have only a medium thickness.

"Under the feet of the herald he had seen it crumble and fall in.

"He had deduced from this that a weight five times as heavy added to thatof the palanquin, would not fail to produce a landslide.

"As to the prediction concerning the fever, it was based on what he hadseen when in the war.

"He had then observed that every wound is always followed by adisposition to fever; he therefore could not fail to deduce that theserious contusions occasioned by the fall of the prince would produce theinevitable consequences.

"The judge was very much imprest with the perspicacity of this man; notonly did he give him his liberty, but he engaged him in his personalservice and in due time enabled him to make his fortune."

We do not wish to affirm--any more than Yoritomo, for that matter--thatfortunate deductions are always so magnificently rewarded as were thoseof this man.

However, without the causes being so striking, many people have owedtheir fortune to the faculty which they possest of deducing resultswhere the analogy of the past circumstances suggested to them whatwould happen.

He warns us against the propensity which we have of too easily avoiding aconclusion which does not accord with our desires.

"Too many people," said he, "wish to undertake to make deductions byeliminating the elements which deprive them of a desired decision.

"They do not fail either to exaggerate the reasons which plead in favorof this decision; also we see many persons suffer from reasoning, insteadof feeling the good effects of it."

Those who cultivate common sense will never fall into this error, forthey will have no difficulty in convincing themselves that by acting thusthey do not deceive any one except themselves.

By glossing over truth in order to weaken the logical consequences ofdeductions they are the first to be the victims of this childish trick.

That which is called false deduction is rarely aught save the desire toescape a resolution which a just appraisement would not fail to dictate.

It might be, also, that this twisting of judgment comes from a personhaving been, in some past time, subjected to unfortunate influences.

By devoting oneself to the evolution of thought, of which we have alreadyspoken when presenting the symbolical fan, and above all, by adopting theprecepts which, following the method of Yoritomo, we are going to developin the following lessons, we shall certainly succeed in checking theerrors of false reasoning.

"The important thing," said he, "is not to let wander the thought, which,after resting for a moment on the subject with which we are concerned andafter touching lightly on ideas of a similar character, begins to strayvery far from its basic principles.

"Have you noted the flight of certain birds?

"They commence by gathering at one point, then they describe a series ofcircles around this point, at first very small, but whose circumferenceenlarges at every sweep.

"Little by little the central point is abandoned, they no longer approachit, and disappear in the sky, drawn by their fancy toward another pointwhich they will leave very soon.

"The thoughts of one who does not know how to gather them together and toconcentrate them are like these birds.

"They start from a central point, then spread out, at first withoutgetting far from this center, but soon they lose sight of it and flytoward a totally different subject that a mental representation hasjust produced.

"And this lasts until the moment when, in a sudden movement, the firstone is conscious of this wandering tendency.

"But it is often too late to bring back these wanderers to the initialidea, for, in the course of their circuits, they have brushed against ahundred others, which are confounded with the first, weaken it, and takeaway its exact proportions.

"The great stumbling-block again is that of becoming lost in the detailswhose multiplicity prevents us from discerning their complete function inthe act of practising deduction.

"It is better, in the case where our perception finds itself assailed bythe multitude of these details, to proceed by the process of elimination,in order not to become involved in useless and lazy efforts.

"In this case we must act like a man who must determine the color of amaterial at a distance where the tiny designs stand out in a relief ofwhite on a background of black.

"Suppose that he is placed at a distance too great to perceivethis detail.

"What should he do to be able to give the best possible description?

"He will proceed by elimination.

"The material is neither red nor green; orange and violet must be setaside, as well as all the subordinate shades.

"It has a dull appearance, hence, it is gray; unless.... And here mentalactivity comes into play and will suggest to him that gray is composed ofblack and white.

"He will then be sure to form a judgment which will not be spoiledby falsity, if he declares that the material is a mixture of blackand white.

"Later, by drawing nearer, he will be able to analyze the designs and toconvince himself of their respective form and color, but by deducing thatthe material was made up of the mixture of two colors he will have comeas near as possible to the truth:

"Deduction never prejudges; it is based on facts; only on thingsaccomplished; it unfolds the teaching that we ought to obtain as aresult."

Again the Shogun recommends to us the union of thoughts and thecontinuous examination of past incidents in the practise of deductions.

"If on entering a room," said he, "we are at times confused, it happensalso that we correct this impression after a more attentive examination.

"The gilding is of inferior quality; the materials are of cotton, thepaintings ordinary, and the mattings coarse.

"At first sight we should have deduced, judging from appearances, thatthe possessor of this house was a very rich man, but a second examinationwill cause us to discover embarrassment and anxiety.

"It is the same with all decisions that we must make.

"Before devoting ourselves to deductions inspired by the general aspectof things, it is well to examine them one by one and to discover theirdefects or recognize their good qualities.

"We shall be able thus to acquire that penetration of mind whosedevelopment, by leading us toward wise deductions, will bring us to thediscovery of the truth."

LESSON VIII

HOW TO ACQUIRE COMMON SENSE

Common Sense is a science, whatever may be said; according to Yoritomo,it does not blossom naturally in the minds of men; it demandscultivation, and the art of reasoning is acquired like all the facultieswhich go to make up moral equilibrium.

"This quality," said the philosopher, "is obscure and intangible, likethe air we breathe.

"Like the air we breathe, it is necessary to our existence, it surroundsus, envelops us, and is indispensable to the harmony of our mental life.

"It is very clear that without exactness of perception we could notpretend to judge justly; it would then be impossible for us to hear thevoice of common sense, if we did not strive to develop it.

"Perception is usually combined with what they call in philosophicallanguage adaptation.

"Otherwise it is difficult, when recognizing a sensation, not toattribute it at once to the sentiment which animated it at the time ofits manifestation.

"The first condition, then, in the acquiring of common sense is tomaintain perfection in all its pristine exactness, by abstracting thecontingencies which could influence us.

"If we do not endeavor to separate from our true selves the suggestionsof sense-consciousness, we shall reach the point where perception istransformed into conception, that is to say, we shall no longer obtainreality alone, but a modified reality.

"With regard to perception, if we understand its truthfulness; it will bea question for reawakening it, of placing ourselves mentally in theenvironment where it was produced, and of awakening the memory, so as tobe able to distinguish, without mistake, the limits within which it isnarrowly confined.

"The art of situation consists in reproducing, mentally, past facts,allowing for the influence of the surroundings at that time, as comparedwith the present environment.

"One must not fail to think about the influences to which one has beensubjected since this time.

"It is possible that life during its development in the aspirant tocommon sense may have changed the direction of his first conceptionseither by conversation or by reading or by the reproduction of diversnarrations.

"It would then be a lack of common sense to base an exact recollection offormer incidents on the recent state of being of the soul, withoutseeking to reproduce the state of mind in which one was at the epoch whenthose incidents occurred.

"Activity of mind, stimulated to the utmost, is able to give a color topreceding impressions, which they never have had, and, in this caseagain, the recollection will be marred by inexactness.

"The art of situation requires the strictest application and on thisaccount it is a valuable factor in the acquirement of common sense.

"Attention vitalizes our activity in order to accelerate the developmentof a definite purpose toward which it can direct its energy.

"It could be analyzed as follows:

"First, to see;

"Secondly, to hear.

"The functions of the other senses come afterward, and theirsusceptibility can attract our attention to the sensations which theygive us, such as the sense of smell, of touch, of taste.

"These purely physical sensations possess, however, a moralsignification, from which we are permitted to make valuable deductions.

"The first two have three distinct phases:

"First degree, to see.

"Second degree, to look.

"Third degree, to observe.

"If we see a material, its color strikes us first and we say: I have seena red or yellow material, and this will be all.

"Applying ourselves more closely, we look at it and we define thepeculiarities of the color. We say: it is bright red or dark red.

"In observing it we determine to what use it is destined.

"The eye is attracted by:

"The color.

"The movement.

"The form.

"The number.

"The duration.

"We have just spoken of the color.

"The movement is personified by a series of gestures that people make orby a series of changes to which they subject things.

"The form is represented by the different outlines.

"The number by their quantity.

"The duration by their length; one will judge of the length of time ittakes to walk a road by seeing the length of it.

"The act of listening is divided into three degrees.

"First degree, to hear.

"Second degree, to understand.

"Third degree, to reflect.

"If some one walking in the country hears a dog bark he perceives first asound: this is the act of hearing.

"He will distinguish that this sound is produced by the barking of a dog;this is the act of understanding.

"Reflection will lead him then to think that a house or a human being isnear, for a dog goes rarely alone.

"If the things which are presented to our sight are complex, those whichstrike our ears are summed up in one word, sound, which has only onedefinition, the quality of the sound.

"Then follow the innumerable categories of sound that we distinguish onlyby means of comprehension and reflection, rendered so instinctive byhabit that we may call them automatic, so far as those which relate tofamiliar sounds.

"The example which we have just given is a proof of this fact.

"Let us add that this habit develops each sensitive faculty to itshighest degree.

"The inhabitants of the country can distinguish each species of bird bylistening to his song; and the hermits, the wanderers, those who livewith society on a perpetual war footing, perceive sounds which would notstrike the ears of civilized people.

"Approximation is also one of the stones by whose aid we construct theedifice of common sense.

"Concerning the calculations of probabilities, the application ofapproximation will allow us to estimate the capacity or the probableduration of things.

"We can not say positively whether a man will live a definite number ofyears but we can affirm that he will never live until he is two hundred.

"There are, for approbation, certain known limits which serve as a basisfor the construction of reasoning, inspired by common sense.

"It can be affirmed, in a positive way, that, if the trunk of a tree werefloating easily, without sinking to the bottom of the water, it would notfloat the same if thirty men were to ride astride of it.

"The initial weight of the tree permits it to maintain itself on thesurface; but if it be increased to an exaggerated total, we can, withouthesitation, calculate indirectly the moment when it will disappear,dragging with it the imprudent men who trusted themselves to it.

"Everything in life is a question of approximation.

"The house which is built for a man will be far larger than the kennel,destined to shelter a dog, because the proportions have been calculated,by approximation, according to the relative difference between thestature of the human and canine species.

"Clothing is also suited to the temperature.

"One naturally thinks that, below a certain degree of cold, it isnecessary to change light clothes for those made of thicker material.

"As with the majority of the constructive elements of common sense,approximation is always based on experience.

"It draws its conclusions from the knowledge of known limitations, whoseaffirmation serves as a basis for the argument which determines deductionin a most exact manner.

"Experience itself depends on memory, which permits us to recallfacts and to draw our conclusions from them, on which facts reasoningis based."

The Shogun does not fail to draw our attention to the difference betweenexperience and experimentation.

"It consists of determining the production of a phenomenon whoseexistence will aid us in establishing the underlying principles of anobservation which interprets the event.

"That is what is called experience.

"Comparison is a mental operation which permits us to bring things thatwe desire to understand to a certain point.

"It is comparison which has divided time according to periods, which themoon follows during its entire length.

"It is by comparing their different aspects and by calculating theduration of their transformations, that men have been able to divide timeas they do in all the countries of the world.

"The science of numbers is also born of comparison, which has beenestablished between the quantities that they represent.

"This is the art of calculating the differences existing between eachthing, by determining the relativeness of their respective proportions.

"Comparison acts on the mind automatically, as a rule.

"It is indispensable to the cultivation of common sense, for it furnishesthe means of judging with full knowledge of all the circumstances.

"Analysis is an operation, which consists of separating each detail fromthe whole and of examining these details separately, without losing sightof their relationship to the central element.

"Analysis of the same object, while being scrupulously exact, can,however, differ materially in its application, according to the way thatthe object is related to this or that group of circumstances.

"There are, however, immutable things.

"For example: the letters of the alphabet, the elementary sounds, thecolors etc., etc.

"It suffices to quote only these three elements; one can easilyunderstand that the most elaborate manuscript is composed of only adefinite number of letters always repeating themselves, whosejuxtaposition forms phrases, then chapters, and finally thecomplete work.

"Music is composed only of seven sounds whose different combinationsproduce an infinite variety of melodies.

"Elementary colors are only three in number.

"All the others gravitate around them.

"Therefore, these same letters, these same notes, these same colors,according to their amalgamation, can change in aspect and cooperate inthe production of different effects.

"The same letters can express, according to the order in which they areplaced, terror or confidence, joy or grief.

"The same is true of notes and colors.

"Common sense ought then, considering these rules, to know how to analyzeall the details and, having done this, to coordinate and to classifythem, in order to distinguish them easily.

"Coordination and classification form an integral part of common sense."

And Yoritomo, who delights in reducing the most complex questions toexamples of the rarest simplicity, says to us:

"I am supposing that one person says to another, I have just met a negro.The interlocutor, as well as he who mechanically registers this fact,without thinking, gives himself up to analysis and to coordination whichalways precedes synthesis.

"Without being aware of this mental action, their minds will be occupiedfirst with the operations of perception then of classification.

"This negro was a man of a color which places him in a certain group ofthe human race.

"It is always thus that common sense proceeds, its principal merit beingto know how to unite present perceptions with those previously cognized,then to understand how to coordinate them so as to be able to group themconcretely, that is to say, to synthesize them.

"Destination is defined as the purpose or object, born of deduction andof classification.

"Destination does not permit of losing sight of the end which isproposed.

"It allows the consideration of the purpose to predominate always, anddirects all actions toward this purpose, these actions being absolutelythe demonstrations of this unique thought.

"Habits, acquired in view of certain realizations, ought to be dropt fromthe moment the purpose is accomplished, or that it is weakened."

It is by absolutely perpetuating those habits, whose pretext hasdisappeared, that one sees the achievement of certain actions which havebeen roughly handled by common sense.

"There are," again says the philosopher, "certain customs, whose originit is impossible to remember; at the time of their birth, they wereengendered by necessity, but even tho their purpose be obliterated,tradition has preserved them in spite of everything, and those whoobserve them do not take into consideration their absurdity.

"People of common sense refrain from lending themselves to these uselesspractises, or, if they consent to allow them a place in their thoughts itis that they attribute to them some reason for existence, eitherpractical or sentimental."

Direction is indicated by circumstances, by environment, or by necessity.

There is direction of resolutions as well as direction of a journey; itis necessary, from the beginning, to consider well the choice of a goodroute, after having done everything possible to discriminate carefullybetween it and all other routes proposed.

It happens, however, that the way leads also through the cross-roads; itis even indispensable to leave the short cuts in order to trace theoutline of the obstacles.

Direction is, then, an important factor in the acquiring of common sense.

The putting of the question takes its character from comparison, fromexperience, and principally from approximation; but it is in itself asynthesis of all the elements which compose common sense.

He who wishes to acquire common sense should be impregnated with all thathas preceded.

Then he will discipline himself, so as to be able to judge, by himself,of the degree of reason which he has the right to assume.

He will begin by evoking some subject, comparing its visual forms with,those forms which he understands the best, in other words, to theperceptions which are the most familiar to him.

If it concerns a question to be solved, he will try to recall somesimilar subject, and establish harmony, by making them both relative to acommon antecedent.

Yoritomo advises choosing simple thoughts for the beginning.

"One will say, for example:

"Such a substance is a poison; the seeds of this fruit contain a weakdose of it; these seeds could then become a dangerous food, if oneabsorbed a considerable quantity.

"Common sense will thus indicate a certain abstaining from eating of it.

"Then one may extend his argument to things of a greater importance, buttaking great care to keep within the narrow limits of rudimentary logic.

"One must be impregnated with this principle:

"Two things equal to a third demand an affirmative judgment or decision.

"In the opposite case the negative deduction is enjoined.

"It is by deductions from the most ordinary facts that one succeeds inmaking common sense intervene automatically in all our judgments.

"What would be thought of one who, finding himself in a forest at thetime of a violent storm, would reason as follows:

"First: The high summits attract lightning.

"Secondly: Here is a giant tree.

"Thirdly: I'm going to take refuge there.

"Then it is that common sense demands that the state his threepropositions as follows:

"First: High summits attract lightning.

"Secondly: Here is a giant tree.

"Thirdly: I'm going to avoid its proximity because it will surely bedangerous.

"If he acted otherwise; if, in spite of his knowledge of the danger, hetook shelter under the branches of the gigantic tree, exposing himself tobe struck by lightning, one could, in this case, only reproach him withimprudence and lay the blame to the lack of common sense which allowedhim to perform the act that logic condemned."

Now the old Nippon speaks to us of the means to employ, that we may avoidpronouncing too hasty judgments, which are always, of necessity, weakenedby a too great indulgence for ourselves and at the same time too great aseverity for others.

"I was walking one day," said he, "on the shores of a lake, when Idiscovered a man sitting at the foot of a bamboo tree, in an attitude ofthe greatest despair.

"Approaching him, I asked him the cause of his grief.

"'Alas!' said he to me, 'the gods are against me; everything which Iundertake fails, and all evils crush me.

"'After the one which has just befallen me only one course of action isleft to me, to throw myself in the lake. But I am young, and I am weepingfor myself before resolving to take such a step.'

"And he related to me how, after many attempts without success, he had atlast gained a certain sum of money, the loss of which he had justexperienced.

"In what way did you lose it?" I asked him.

"'I put it in this bag.'

"'Has some one stolen it?'

"'No, it has slipt through this rent.'

"And he showed me a bag, whose ragged condition confirmed, and at thesame time illustrated his statement.

"'Listen,' said I, sitting down beside him, 'you are simply devoid ofcommon sense, by invoking the hatred of the gods! You alone are the causeof your present misery.

"'If you had simply reasoned before placing your money in this bag, thiswould not have happened to you.'

"And as he opened his eyes wide:

"'You would have thought this,' I resumed:

"'The material, very much worn, is incapable of standing any weightwithout tearing.

"'Now, the money which I possess is heavy, my bag is worn out.

"'I shall not, therefore, put my money in this bag or, at least, I shalltake care to line it beforehand with a solid piece of leather.

"'From this moment,' I proceeded, 'there only remains one thing for youto do, always consult common sense before coming to any conclusion, andyou will always succeed.

"'As for your opinion concerning the hatred of the gods for you, ifyou will once more call common sense to your assistance you willreason as follows:

"'Gracious divinities protect only wise people.

"'Now, I have acted like a fool.

"'It is, therefore, natural that they should turn away from me.'

"How many useless imprecations would be avoided," adds the Shogun, "if itwere given to men to know how to employ the arguments which common sensedictates, in order to distribute the weight of the mistakes committedamong those who deserve the burden, without, at the same time, forgettingto assume our own share of the responsibility if we have erred.

"Nothing is more sterile than regrets or reproaches when they do notcarry with them the resolution never again to fall into the same error."

Afterward the philosopher demonstrates to us the necessity of abstractingall personality from the exercises which combine for the attainment ofcommon sense.

"There is," said he, "an obstacle against which all stupid peoplestumble; it is the act of reasoning under the influence of passion.

"Those who have not decided to renounce this method of arguing will neverbe able to give a just decision.

"There are self-evident facts, which certain people refuse to admit,because this statement of the truth offends their sympathies or impedestheir hatreds, and they force themselves to deny the evidence, hopingthus to deceive others regarding it.

"But truth is always the strongest and they soon become the solitarydupes of their own wilful blindness.

"The man of common sense knows how to recognize falsehood wherever hemeets it; he knows how vain it is to conceal a positive fact and also howdangerous it is to deceive oneself, a peril which increases in power, inproportion to the effort made to ignore it.

"He does not wish to imitate those pusillanimous people who prefer tolive in the agony of doubt rather than to look misfortunes in theface. He who is determined to acquire common sense will use thefollowing argument:

"Doubt is a conflict between two conclusions.

"So long as it exists it is impossible to adopt either.

"Serenity is unknown to those whom doubt attacks.

"To obtain peace, it is necessary to become enlightened.

"However, it is wise always to foresee the least happy issue and toprepare to support the consequences.

"The man who thinks thus will be stronger than adversity and will knowhow to struggle with misfortune without allowing it to master him."

It is in these terms that Yoritomo initiates us into what he calls themechanism of common sense; in other words, the art of acquiring by thesimplest reasoning this quality dull as iron, but, like it, also solidand durable.

LESSON IX

COMMON SENSE AND ACTION

These qualities are two relatives very near of kin; but, just for thisreason, they must not be confounded.

While common sense is applied to all the circumstances of life, practicalsense is applicable to useful things.

Common sense admits a very subtle logic which is, at times, alittle complex.

Practical sense reasons, starting from one point only; viz., materialconveniences.

It is possible for this sense to be spoiled by egotism, if common sensedoes not come to its assistance.

It is by applying the discipline of reasoning to practical sense that itmodifies simple sense perception by urging it to ally itself with logic,which unites thought to sentiment and reason.

"The association of common sense and practical sense is necessary," saysYoritomo, "in order to produce new forms, at the same time restrainingthe imagination within the limits of the most exact deductions and of themost impartial judgment."

Science is, in reality, a sort of common sense to which the rules ofreasoning are applied, and is supported by arguments which practicalsense directs into productive channels.

That which is called great common sense is none other than a quality withwhich people are endowed who show great mental equilibrium whenever it isa question of resolving material problems.

These people are generally country people or persons of humbleposition, whose physical organism has been developed without payingmuch attention to their intellectual education; they are, in fact,perfect candidates for the attainment of common sense, without havingbeen educated to this end.

Their aptitude results from a constant habit of reflection which,rendering their attention very keen, has permitted them to observe themost minute details, therefore they can form correct conclusions, when itis a question of things that are familiar to them.

A peasant who has been taught by nature will be more skilled inprophesying about the weather than others.

He will also know how to assign a limit to the daily working hours, atthe same time stating the maximum time which one can give withoutdeveloping repulsion, which follows excesses of all kinds.

In his thought, very simple, but very direct, will be formulated thisperfect reasoning:

Health is the first of all blessings, since without it we are incapableof appreciating the other joys of life.

If I compromise this possession I shall be insensible to all others.

It is, therefore, indispensable that I should measure my efforts, for,admitting that a certain exaggerated labor brings me a fortune, I shallnot know how to enjoy it if illness accompanies it.

This is the logic which is called practical sense.

Yoritomo continues, saying that there is a very close connection betweenthe faculty of judging and that of deducing.

"Practical sense, allied to common sense, comes to the assistance of thelatter, when it is tempted to reject the chain of analogy, whoserepresentation too often draws one far from the initial subject.

"It facilitates coordination, clearness, and precision of thought.

"It knows how to consider contingencies, and never fails to have a clearunderstanding of relative questions."

And to illustrate his theory, he cites us an example which many of ouryoung contemporaries would do well to remember.

"There was," said he, "in the village of Fu-Isher, a literary man, whowrote beautiful poems.

"He lived in great solitude, and no one would have heard of his existenceif it had not been that my master, Lang-Ho, while walking in the woodsone day, was attracted by the harmonious sounds of poetry, which thisyoung man was reciting, without thinking that he had any other listenersthan the birds of the forest.

"Lang-Ho made himself known to him and began to question him.

"He learned that he did not lack ambition, but, being poor, and having nomeans of approaching those who would have been able to patronize him, hewas singing of nature for his own pleasure, waiting patiently until heshould be able to influence the powerful ones of the earth to share hisappreciation.

"Lang-Ho, touched by his youth and his ardor, pointed out to him thedwelling of a prince, a patron of the arts, and, at the same time, toldhim how he ought to address the nobleman, assuring him that the fact ofhis being a messenger from a friend of the prince would open the doors ofthe palace to him.

"The next day the young poet presented himself at the home of thegreat lord, who, knowing that he had been sent by Lang-Ho, receivedhim in spite of the fact that he was suffering intensely from aviolent headache.

"He learned from the young man that he was a poet and treated him withgreat consideration, making him understand, however, that all sustainedmental effort was insupportable to him on that day.

"But the poet, not paying attention to the prince's exprest desire,unrolled his manuscripts and began reading an interminable ode withoutnoticing the signs of impatience shown by his august hearer.

"He did not have the pleasure of finishing it.

"The prince, seeing that the reader did not understand his importunity,struck a gong and ordered the servant who appeared to conduct the youngman out of his presence.

"Later, he declared to Lang-Ho that his protege had no talent at all, andreprimanded him severely for having sent the poet to the palace.

"But my master did not like to be thus criticized.

"So, a little while after that, one day, when that same prince was in anagreeable frame of mind, Lang-Ho invited him to the reading of one ofhis works.

"The nobleman declared that he had never heard anything more beautiful.

"'That is true,' said Lang-Ho, 'but you ought to have said this the firsttime you heard it.'

"And he revealed to the prince that these verses were those of the youngman whom he had judged so harshly."

From this story two lessons may be drawn:

The first is, that if common sense indicates that judgment should notchange from scorn to enthusiasm, when it is a question of the sameobject, practical sense insists that one should be certain ofimpartiality of judgment, by avoiding the influence of questions whichrelate to environment and surrounding circumstances.

The second concerns opportunity.

We have already had occasion to say how much some things, which seemdesirable at certain times, are questionable when the situation changes.

Bad humor creates ill-will; therefore it is abominably stupid toprovoke the manifestation of the second when one has proved theexistence of the first.

In order that there may be a connection between the faculty of judgmentand that of deduction, it is essential that nothing should be allowed tointerpose itself between these two phases of the argument.

Harmony between all judgments is founded on common sense, but it ispractical common sense, which indicates this harmony with precision.

It is also practical common sense which serves as a guide to the oratorwho wishes to impress his audience.

He will endeavor first to choose a subject which will interest those wholisten to him.

In this endeavor he ought, above all, to consult opportunity.

And, as we have remarked on many occasions, the Shogun expresses theorieson this subject, to which the people of the twentieth century could notgive too much earnest consideration.

"With time, opinions change, as do forms and manners, and this is quitereasonable.

"The progress of science by ameliorating the general conditions ofexistence, introduces a need created by civilization which rejectsbarbarous customs; the mentality of a warrior is not that of anagriculturist; the man who thinks about making his possessions productivehas not the same inclinations as he whose life is devoted to conquest,and the sweetness of living in serenity, by modifying the aspirations,metamorphoses all things.

"In order to lead attention in the direction which is governed by reason,it is indispensable for the orator that he should expound a subject whoseinterpretation will satisfy the demand of opportunity, which influencesevery brain.

"Practical sense will make him take care to speak only of things that hehas studied thoroughly.

"It will induce him to expound his theory in such a way that his hearerswill have to make no effort to assimilate it.

"That which is not understood is easily criticized, and practical sensewould prevent an orator from attempting to establish an argument whosepremises would offend common sense.

"He would be certain of failure in such a case.

"His efforts will be limited, then, to evoking common sense, by employingpractical sense, so far as what refers to the application of principleswhich he desires to apply successfully."

Yoritomo recommends this affiliation for that which concerns the struggleagainst superstition.

"Superstition," he says, "offends practical sense as well as commonsense, for it rests on an erroneous analysis.

"Its foundation is always an observation marred by falsity, establishingan association between two facts which have nothing in common.

"There are people who reenter their homes if, when they reach thethreshold, they perceive a certain bird; others believe that they arethreatened with death if they meet a white cat."

Without going back to the days of Yoritomo, we shall find just as manypeople who are the victims of superstitions concerning certain facts,which are only the observance of customs fallen into disuse, and whosepractise has been perpetuated through the ages, altho, as we have said inthe preceding chapter, the purpose of the custom has disappeared, but thecustom itself has not been forgotten.

It is in this way that the origin of the superstition concerning saltdates back to the time of the Romans, who (while at variance with theprinciples of contemporary agriculture) sowed salt in the fields of theirenemies and thought that by so doing they would make them sterile.

To that far-distant epoch can be traced the origin of the superstitionconcerning the spilling of salt.

Whatever may have been its cause, superstition is the enemy of commonsense, for, when it does not originate in an abolished custom, it is theproduct of a personal impression, associating two ideas absolutelyunconnected.

"There are people who will condemn a country as utterly unattractive,because they happened to have visited it under unfavorable circumstances.

"Others, without considering what a country has previously produced, andthat at present the grain has not been planted, will declare unfertilethe soil which has been untilled for some months.

"On the other hand, if they visit a house on a sunny day, it would beimpossible for them to associate it with the idea of rain.

"It would be most difficult to make these people alter their judgment,prematurely formed, and, in spite of the most authoritative assertionsand the most self-evident proofs, their initial idea will dominate allthose which one would like to instil into their minds.

"One moment would, however, suffice for reason to convince them that thevariations of atmosphere and the conditions of cultivation can modifythe aspect of a country, of a field, and of a house, to the extent ofgiving them an appearance totally different from the one which theyseemed to have.

"But he who judges by appearances never rejoices in the possession ofthat faculty which may be called reason in imagination.

"This is a gift, developed by practical sense and which common sensehappily directs in right channels.

"Those who are endowed with this faculty can, with the help of reasoning,and by means of thought, build up a future reality based on a judgmentwhose affirmation admits of no doubt.

"It is not a question of hypothesis, no matter how well-founded it is.

"Experience, in this case, is united with deduction to form apreconceived but certain idea.

"By cultivating practical sense, we shall escape the danger ofidealization which, with people of unbalanced mentality, often sheds anartificial light upon the picture."

There is still another point to which Yoritomo calls our attention, inorder to encourage us to cultivate the twin reasoning powers whoseadvantages we are trying to commend in this chapter:

"Practical sense," says he, "sometimes puts common sense apparently inthe wrong, while acting, however, without the inspiration of the latter.

"This happens when it is an advantage, for the perfect equilibrium of theprojects in question, that it should be maintained at the same pitch, inorder that it may be understood by all.

"In the legendary days, snow the color of fire once fell on theinhabitants of a little village, who were all about to attend areligious ceremony.

"One man alone, an old philosopher, had remained at home because, at thetime they were to leave, he suddenly fell ill.

"When his sufferings were relieved, he started out to join the others andfound them committing all sorts of follies.

"Two among them were reviling one another, each one claiming that he wasthe only king.

"Some were weeping because they thought that they were changedinto beasts.

"Others were screaming, without rime or reason, now embracing each other,now attacking one another furiously.

"Soon the wise man recognized that they had been affected by the fall ofsnow, which had made them crazy, and he tried to speak to them in thelanguage of reason.

"But all these crazy people turned on him, crying out that he had justlost his reason and that he must be shut away.

"They undertook the task of taking him back to his home, but, as that wasnot to be accomplished without rough usage, he assumed the part indicatedby practical sense; this man of common sense feigned insanity, and fromthe moment the insane people thought that he resembled them they let himalone and ceased to torment him.

"The philosopher profited by this fact to disarm their excitement, and,little by little, all the time indulging in a thousand eccentricities,which had no other object than to protect himself against them, hedemonstrated their aberration to them."

Could not this story serve as an example to the majority ofcontemporary critics?

Is it not often necessary to appear to be denuded of common sense, tomake the voice of reason dominate?

In the fable of Yoritomo, his philosopher proved his profound knowledgeof the human heart, while he put in practise the power of practical sensein apparent opposition, however, to common sense.

We said this at the opening of the chapter: practical sense and commonsense are two very near relatives, but they are two and not one.

LESSON X

THE MOST THOROUGH BUSINESS MAN

One of the principle advantages of common sense is that it protects theman who is gifted with it from hazardous enterprises, the risky characterof which he scents.

Only to risk when possessing perfect knowledge of a subject is the suremeans of never being drawn into a transaction by illusory hopes.

An exact conception of things is more indispensable to perfect successthan a thousand other more brilliant but less substantial gifts.

"However," says Yoritomo, "in order to make success our own, it isnot sufficient to have the knowledge of things, one must above allknow oneself.

"On the great world-stage, each one occupies a place which at the startmay not always be in the first rank.

"Before everything else, it is indispensable that we should never deludeourselves about the position which we occupy.

"To define it exactly, one should call to mind the wise adage which says:Know thyself.

"But this knowledge is rare.

"Presumptuous persons readily imagine that they attract the eyes of everyone, even if they be in the last rank.

"Timid persons will hide themselves behind others and, notwithstanding,they are very much aggrieved not to be seen.

"Ambitious persons push away the troublesome ones, in order that theythemselves may get the first places.

"Lazy persons just let them do it.

"Irresolute persons hesitate before sitting down in vacant places andare consumed with regrets from the time they perceive that others,better prepared, take possession of them; the more so as they no longerget back their own, for, during their hesitation, another has seated,himself there.

"Enthusiasts fight to reach the first rank, but are so fatigued by theirviolent struggles that they fall, tired out, before they have attainedtheir object.

"Obstinate people persist in coveting inaccessible places and spendstrength without results, which they might have employed morejudiciously.

"People of common sense are the only ones who experience no nervoustension because of this struggle.

"They calculate their chances, compute the time, do not disturbthemselves uselessly, and never abandon their present position until theyhave a firm grasp on the following place.

"They do not seek to occupy a rank which their knowledge would not permitthem to keep; they draw on that faculty with which they are gifted tolearn the science of true proportion.

"They do not meddle in endeavors to reform laws; they submit to them, bylearning how to adapt them to their needs, and respect them by seeking tosubordinate their opinion to the principle on which they are based.

"Persons who have no common sense are the only ones to revolt against thelaws of the country where they live.

"The wise man will recognize that they have been enacted to protect himand that to be opposed to their observance would be acting as an enemyto oneself."

However, people will say, if laws are so impeccable in their rightto authority, how is it that their interpretation leads so oftento disputes?

It is easy to reply that lawsuits are rarely instituted by men of commonsense; they leave this burden to people of evil intent, who imagine thusto make a doubtful cause triumph.

It must be conceded that this means succeeds at times with them, whenthey are dealing with timid or irresolute persons; but those who havecontracted the habit of reasoning, and who never undertake anythingwithout consulting common sense, will never allow themselves to be drawninto the by-paths of sophistry.

If they are forced to enter there temporarily, in order to pursue theadversary, who has hidden himself there, they will leave these paths assoon as necessity does not force them to remain there longer and withdelight regain the broad road of rectitude.

A few pages further on we find a reflection which the Shogun, alwaysfaithful to his principles of high morality, specially addresses to thosewho make a profession of humility.

"Obedience," he says, "ought to be considered as a means; but, for theone who wishes to succeed, in no sense can it be honored as a virtue.

"If it be a question of submission to law, that is nothing else but theperformance of a strict duty; this is a kind of compact which the manof common sense concludes with society, to which he promises hissupport for the maintenance of a protection from which he will be thefirst to benefit.

"This obedience might be set down as selfishness were it not endorsed bycommon sense.

"There are people, it is true, who, even altho wishing to support theirneighbor when called upon to do so by the law, seek to evade this duty ifleft to themselves.

"These are pirates who have broken completely not only with the spirit ofequity, but also with simple common sense.

"It is always foolish to set the example of insubordination, for, if itwere followed, it would not be long before general disorder would appear.

"Some men were sitting one day on the edge of an inlet and were tryingwith a net to catch fish, whose playful movements the men were followingthrough the limpid water.

"According to their character, their perseverance, their cleverness, andthe ingenuity of the means employed, they caught a proportionate numberof fish; but those who caught the least had one or two.

"This success encouraged them, and they began again in good earnest,each one in his own way, when a stranger appeared; he was armed with along branch of a tree, which he plunged in the pond, touching the bottomand stirring up the mud, which, as it scattered, rose to the surface ofthe water.

"The limpidity of the water was immediately changed; one could no longersee the fish, and the fishermen decided to discontinue their sport.

"But the man only laughed at their discomfiture and, brandishing a largenet, he threw it in his turn, chaffing them at the patient cunning bywhich they had, he said, taken such a poor haul.

"He brought up some fish, it is true, but at each haul he was obliged tolose so much time in removing the impurities, the debris, and the weedsof all kinds from the net that very soon the fishermen had thesatisfaction of seeing him punished for his mean conduct.

"What he took was scarcely more than what the smartest among them hadtaken, and his net, filthy from the mud, torn by the roots that he wasunable to avoid, was soon good for nothing."

Might it not be from this fable that we have taken the expression, "tofish in troubled waters," of which without a doubt the good Yoritomofurnished the origin many, many centuries ago?

His prophetic mind is unveiled again in the following advice that not abusiness man of the twentieth century would reject.

"Common sense," he says, "when it is a question of the relations of menas to what concerns business or society, ought to adopt thecharacteristic of that animal called the chameleon.

"His natural color is dull, but he has the gift of reflecting the colorof the objects on which he rests.

"Near a leaf, he takes the tint of hope.

"On a lotus, he is glorified with the blue of the sky.

"Is this to say that his nature changes to the point of modifying hisnatural color?

"No; he does not cease to possess that which recalls the color of theground, and the ephemeral color which he appropriates is only asemblance, in order that he may be more easily mistaken for the objectsthemselves.

"The man who boasts of possessing common sense, altho preserving hispersonality, ought not to fail, if he wants to succeed, to reflect thatof the person whom he wishes to aid him in succeeding."

Let it not be understood for a moment, that we advise any one to actcontrary to the impulses of justice.

But cleverness is a part of common sense in business, and assimilation isessential to success.

It is not necessary to abandon one's convictions in order toreflect principles which, without contradicting them, give them afavorable color.

Common sense can remain intact and be differently colored, according asit is applied to the arts, politics, or science.

It would not deserve its name if it did not know how to yield tocircumstances, in order to adorn the momentary caprice with flowersof reason.

In the primitive ages, common sense consisted in keeping oneself in aperpetual state of defense; attack was also at times prescribed, byvirtue of the principle that it is pernicious to allow one's rights to beimperiled.

Attack was also at times a form of repression.

It was also a lesson in obedience and a reminder not to misunderstandindividual rights.

In later times, common sense served to make the advantages of harmonyappreciated.

It directed the descendants of peoples exclusively warlike toward thesecret place where science unfolds itself to the gaze of the vulgar; thenit taught them to provide for their existence by working.

It has demonstrated to them the necessity of reflection, by incitingthem to model their present course of life on the lessons which comefrom the past.

It has given them the means to evoke it easily and effectively.

It has injected into their veins the calmness which permits them to drawjust conclusions and to adopt toward preceding reasonings the attitudeof absolute neutrality, without which all former presentiments aremarred by error.

Each epoch was, for common sense, an opportunity to manifest itselfdifferently.

At the moment when poetry was highly honored, it would have beenunreasonable to have ignored it, for the bards excited great enthusiasmby their songs which gave birth to heroes.

And now, imbued with the principles which in his day might be taken torepresent what we to-day call advanced ideas, Yoritomo continues:

"Common sense can, then, without renouncing its devotion to truth, takevarious forms or shades, for the truth of yesterday is not always thetruth of to-day.

"The gods of the past are considered simply as idols in our day and thevirtues of the distant past would be, at present, moral defects whichwould prevent men from winning the battle of life, whose ideal is TheBest for which all the faculties should strive."

The Shogun also touches lightly on a subject which, already discust inhis time, has become, in our day, a burning truth; it is a question of afault, which in the world of practical life and in that of business cancause considerable injury to him who allows it to be implanted in him.

We refer to that tendency which has been adorned or rather brandedsuccessively with the names of hypochondria, pessimism, and lastlyneurasthenia, an appellation which comprises all kinds of nervousdiseases, the characteristic of which is incurable melancholy.

"There are people," he says, "who are afflicted with a specialcolor-blindness.

"Everything they look at assumes immediately to their eyes the mostsomber hues.

"They see in a flower only the germ of dry-rot; the most idealbeauty appears to them only like the negligible covering of somehideous skeleton.

"However, they hang on to this life which they do not cease tocalumniate, and people of common sense are rarely found who will try toreason with them from a common-sense standpoint:

"'Since life is so insupportable to you, why do you impose upon yourselfthe obligation to struggle with it?

"'Only insane people try to prolong their sojourn in a place where theysuffer martyrdom.'

"It is true that when, perchance, this argument is placed before them,they do not fail to reply by invoking the shame of desertion.

"'Well, is not then the interest of the struggle to which we aresubjected a sufficient attraction to keep us at our post?'"

And, always enamored with the doctrine, which we are now assiduouslymaintaining, he concludes:

"Common sense is, at times, the unfolding of a magnificent force whichincites us to attune our environment to actualities.

"One must not, however, fall into excess and draw a huge sword to piercethe clouds, which obscure the sun.

"If struggle is praiseworthy when we have to face a real enemy, itbecomes worthy of scorn and laughter if we attack a puerile or imaginaryadversary.

"But the number of people incapable of appreciating the true color ofthings is not limited to those who enshroud them in black.

"There are others, on the contrary, who obstinately insist uponsurrounding them with a halo of sunlight only existing in theirimagination.

"For such deluded people, obstacles seen from a distance take on the mostattractive appearance; they would be readily disposed to enjoy them andonly consent to allow them a certain importance if they absolutelyobstruct the way.

"But until the moment when impossibility confronts them, do they deny itsexistence or underrate its importance by attributing a favorableinfluence to it.

"This propensity to see all in the ideal would be enviable if it did notwound common sense, which revenges itself by refusing to theseimprovident people the help of the reasoning power necessary to sustainthem in the crisis of discouragement which brings about irresistibly theestablishment of error.

"These unbalanced people rarely experience success, for they are unable,as long as their blindness lasts, to mark out a line of serious conductfor themselves.

"All projects built on the quicksands of false deductions will perishwithout even leaving behind them material sufficient to reconstruct them.

"It is impossible to combat strongly enough this tendency toself-delusion, which inclines us to become the prey of untruth, bypreventing the birth of faith, based on preceding success.

"Sincere conviction, on the contrary, will lead us to refute stronglyall the false arguments, which impede thought and would choke it inorder to allow unadulterated pleasure to be installed on the ruins ofcommon sense.

"The battle of life demands warriors and conquerors as well as critics,less brilliant, perhaps, but just as worthy of admiration, for theirmission is equally important, altho infinitely more obscure.

"Whether he be a peasant tilling his field or a rich capitalistmanipulating his gold, he who works in order to satisfy the needs orluxury of his existence is a fighter whose hours are spent in occupationsmore or less dangerous.

"From time to time, however, a cessation of hostilities is produced; suchalways follows the appearance of common sense which, by giving to thingstheir true proportions, causes the greater part of inequalities todisappear.

"Finally, he who cultivates this virtue unostentatiously will always beprotected from the caprices of fortune; if he is poor, common sense willindicate to him the way to cease to be poor, and, if chance has given himbirth in opulence, the counsels of experience will demonstrate to him thefrailty of possessions that one has not acquired by personal effort."

This conclusion is strikingly true, for it is certain that prosperityattained by personal effort is less likely to fade away than an inheritedfortune, whose owner can only understand the ordinary pleasure of apossession which he has not ardently desired.

He who is the maker of his own position is more able to maintain it; heknows the price of the efforts which he had to make in order to constructit, and, armed with common sense, he is as able to defend his treasure asto enjoy the sweet savor of a thing which he has desired, longed for, andwon by the force of his will and judgment, placed at the service ofcircumstances and directed toward success.